Passenger-vehicle



(No Model.)

- 3 SheetsF-Sheet 1. P. HEPJDIC. Passenger Vehicle. No. 242,31?.Patented May 31,1881..

N. PETERS. Phoh-Llhngmpher, Washmgton, D, C.

P. Hmmm.

(N0 Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

8 8 d y. a M d e It en le ,nvt .la hD.. e V r e .g n e s s a P L 3 2 .42 o. N.

N. PETERS. Fhum-Lilhugmphur. washmgxan. D. CA

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

P. HERDIC, Passenger Vehicle.

No. 242,317. Y Patented may 31,1881.,

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\` Mmmm UNITED STATES PATENT FOEErcE.

PETER HERDIG, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PASSENGER-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,317, dated May 31,1881.

' Application filed January 17, 188i. (No inodel.)

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that; I, PETER HERDIo, ot the city of Philadelphia, in theState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Passen ger-Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in passenger vehicles, such ascoaches, street-cars, &c., ofthe class provided with doors controlled bythe drivers.

My objects are to provide a suitable vehicle with a door or doors whichthe driver, while in his seat, may close and hold closed to preventaccess to the vehicle; to cause such door or doors to open automaticallyas desired by the driver; and to enable the driver, at will, to entirelyshut in or inclose the platform or step by which the vehicle is entered,and so not only prevent access to the vehicle, but render it impossiblefor any one outside to ride upon or cling to the platform or step.

The subject-matter deemed novel will hereinafter be designated by theclaims, after first fully describing` my improvements in connection witha suitable vehicle.

I have in this instance shown my invention as adapted to a Herdiccoach-such, in general features of construction, as shown in LettersPatent ofthe United States granted to me April 20, 1880, No. 226,748. Myimprovements, or some of them, may be used in connection with tram-carsor other passen ger-vehicles to which their application would beadvantageous.

The accompanying drawings show one way of organizing my improvements andadapting them .to a suitable vehicle, so much only of the vehicle beingrepresented as is deemed requisite to a proper illustration of thisinvention.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section on the line l 1 of Fig. 2, representinga portion of the rear ot' a coach, with-the doors represented in dottedlines as open. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the linev 2 2 of Fig. 1,with the door represented as closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on theline 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. et is a front ele vation with the dash-board insection, showing the door-controlling cords terminating near the driversseat. Fig. 5 shows, on an enlarged scale, one of the yielding sectionsof the pullcords. Fig. 6 is a view similar to that shown by Fig. 2, thedoor being provided with a latch,

which holds it closed until released by the driver. Fig. 7 is aview, indetail, of the latch engaging and controlling devices, the housing forsaid devices being in section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 8, and Fig. Srepresents a section on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Themain portion or body VA ot" a suitable vehicle is, in this instance,provided at rear with a covered platform-projection or housedstepextension, B. The rear wall or back, Bl', ot" thisplatform-projection or step-housin g extends from the level of the stepor platform proper, b, to the hood or roof-extension A'. A slidingWindow, such as usually provided for this class of vehicles, is, bypreference, tltted to the back or rear wall,B, ofthe step-housing forlighting and ventilatin g. The distance between the rear ot the vehicleproper or body A and the rear ot' the housing B is sufficient to forma`side doorway for the entrance and exit of passengers. There is adoorway at each side of the platform, and a doorway, O, in the rear endof the vehicle-body. The step or platform b is preferably locatedsomewhat below the level of the door ofthe vehicle, for an obvious purpose.

Each swinging door D ot' the platformextension is preferably hung at itsrear edge to the corresponding edge ot' its doorwaytl1at is to say, thedoors D D are hinged respectively to the opposite sides of thestep-housin g, and at the rear corners thereof, by suitable hinges, d d,connecting the doors with uprights or cornerposts, E E. The doors D Dswing inwardly or over the platform b, and backward toward or againstthe inner side of the platform-extension rear wall, B. Each door isprovided with a suitable spring, F, or two such` springs if deemeddesirable, and each spring is, by preference, combined in proper waywith a hinge, by which to hang the door. These springs act upon thedoors with a constant tendency to swing them open when closed or to holdthem open when swung back, instead ot' acting to close the doors. Inthis way, when the springs are allowed to Vact the doors areautomatically swung open inwardly across the platform and toward theback of the housing as they-.move on their hinges about the posts orcorners E E.

Instead ofthe above specitically-describedv IOO arrangement ofthe doors,they m ay,without material alteration, or in accordance with `myinvention, be hung at their front edges to the corresponding edges ofthe doorways, and thus be adapted to swing automatically, as before, butoutward and forward, or against the rear of the vehicle-body, instead ofinward and backward. By this modification there would be no obstructionof the platform by the opening of the doors, while they would still becontrollable by the driver in the manner and by means presently to beexplained. As the platform-extension or step-housing B is con-Ysiderably narrower than the body of the vehicle, and projects centrallyfrom the rear thereof, ample room is afforded for the outward swing ofthe doors without projecting beyond the vehicle-sides.

Each door D is controlled by the driver ot' the vehicle, so that he mayallow or prevent access to the vehicle. The driver may at will preventthe opening of the door from the i11- side as well as from the outsidewithout action on his part, and so prevent passengers leaving thevehicle when it is moving, or when from other reason it might bedangerous or undesirable to allow a passenger to step off.

It should be noticed that the doors when closed entirely shut in theplatform or step, the lower edges of the doors closing ush orpractically even with the adjacent or vertical outer edges of the steps,thus rendering it impossible to ride outside the doors or hang behind orcling to the platform when they are closed.

Two pull cords or wires, G G, are connected at their rear endsrespectively with the doors D D,at or near their tops, by the brackets gg or other suitable means. These cords pass first by way of pulleys 71Jh, one over each doorway, and then along the root' or sides of thevehicle, near the roof, to the front and outl side of the Vehicle, andterminate within convenient reach of the driver in his seat. The cordsare supported in proper way at suitable intervals along the root' orsides ot the vehicle, and at their front ends have rings I I forfastening them to hooks or buttons i t'. These rings are attached to thepull-cords by means of rubber strips J J, and the cords, including theshort lengths of rubber, (or, it' preferred,

Y coiled springs or some other equivalent for the rubber,) are ot' suchlength as to require them to be elongated when fastened to hold thedoors closed. The length of the cords and the tension upon them is suchas to hold the doors against the force of their springs and preventrattling.v By employing the rubber, or short sections or lengths of anysuitable elastic material, at 'any desired points in the cords, slightvariations in the length of the cords,due for instance to atmosphericchan ges, is compensated. A

Obviously the two cords might be jonedin one near the rear ofthe vehicleand so enable theddriver to control both doors'by the one cor It is alsoobvious that one only of the swinging spring-actuated orautomatically-opened doors and a controlling-cord for closing andholding it might advantageously be employed in connection with asuitable step or platform.

The employment, in connection with the swinging doors and the steps orplatforms of many vehicles in common use, of the pullcords anddoor-opening springs would adapt them to the use of my invention, to theextent at least of embodying the features for controlling andautomatically opening the doors.

ln an applicationlfor Letters Patent of the United States, entitledImprovements in Doors and Steps for Passe'nger-Vehicles,7 filed by mesim ultaneously herewith, are shown and described certain featuressimilar to or substantially the same as some of the features hereinshown and described. My invention in said application relates to anorganization of parts involving certain features which are not claimedherein.

For securing the doors when closed, or as an additional means forpreventing access to the vehicle against the will of the driver, eachdoorD is provided on its inner side with a latch, K, to which accesscannot be had directly from the outer side of or through the door. Thelatch of each door is pivoted and engages a suitable keeper, k, asusual, when the door is closed, and when a door is to be opened thedriver unfastens the latch by lifting its outer end above the keeper bymeans of latch-controllingdevices operated by way of the pull-cords l l,one such cord tor each door, terminating near the drivers seat L, andeither hanging loose at its front end or adapted to be hooked in place.Each cord l passes from the front of the vehicle backward along or nearthe roof and over a pulley, m, at or near the top of the door-frame,thence downward by wayof a channel or housing, M, (shown as formed by aVgrooved strip fastened to the door-frame,) and is connected to theupper end of a latch-tripper, (shown as formed by a vertically-slidinglugged plate or-trip-bar, N.) A rubber or other suitable spring, O,connected at its opposite ends respectively to the lower end of thelatchtripper N and to the bottom of the groove or housing M, acts alwayswith a tendency either to draw down this tripper or to hold it in itslowermost position, at which time its lower lug, a,

abuts against a shoulder formed by the lower edge or wall of a lateralslot or side opening in the housing-strip, as clearly shown in Fig.

- 7. The upward movement of the tripper beyond the proper point to tripthe latch or lift it free of its keeper k is prevented by the lug a',which, a-t the extreme of the upward movement of the tripper, comesagainst the shoulder or stop formed by the top end or wall of thehousingslot.

To prevent the accidental displacement of the latch or its disengagementfrom the keeper by" the joltingof the vehicle, arubber cushion, P, orother equivalent device forbearingdown upon the latch with a yieldingpressure,1s pro' vided. In Fig. 8 the cushion l) is represented bydotted lines as housed in the bracket or latch-guide Q.

From the above description it will be understood that when thc pull-cordl for a doorlatch is pulled by the driver, so as to elongate the springO and trip or lift the latch, the door will be automatically swung openby its spring, provided the door-holding pull-cord G is unfastened torelease the door. Then a door is open the latch-actuating bar or tripperis held in proper position to allow the door to be closed and latchcd bypulling' the cord G, and this cord may then be secured, or the door beheld, wholly by the latch.

The latch may be temporarily secured in such manner as to beinoperative, if desired, simply by inserting a wedge or pin beneath itand between its lower edge and the bottom of the guide-bracket; or aswinging dog or button might be provided ,beneath the latch, which, whenturned up, would hold the latch against its spring or cushion P andsufficiently elevated tobe clear of the keeper.

I claim as of my own inventionl. The combination, with the step orplatform of a vehicle, of the swinging door and the spring or springssolely by the action of which the door is thrown open when released,substantially as and for the purpose hcreinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of the step or platform of the vehicle, the swingingautomaticallyopened or spring-actuated door, and means under the controlof the driver by which to close the door against the action of itsspring or springs and secure it, and by which the door may be unfastenedor released to be thrown open automatically, or by the unaided action ofthe spring or springs, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the step or platform, the doors closing at theirbottoms respectively near to or flush with the outer portion or edge ofthe step or platform adjacent thereto, the springs by the action ofwhich the doors are automatically opened as soon as freed or unfastened,and the pull cord or cords by which to close the doors and preventaccess to the platform, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

i pose hereinbcfore set forth.

7. The. combination ofthe swin gin g dloor, automatically thrown openwhen released or unfastened, the pull-cord for closing the door, theinside latch, aud the latch-controlling devices actuated by anindependent pull-cord, substantially as and for the purpose hereinheforeset forth.

S. The combination of the step or platform of a vehicle, thc swingingdoor, its inside latch, the vertically-sliding latch-tripper, the springby ,which it is moved in one direction, the pullcord for moving it inthe opposite direction, and the housing by which the latch-controllingdevices arc concealed and protected, substantially as and for thepurpose hereinbeforeset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. l

P. HERlDlC.

Witnesses:

WM. J. PEYTON, J osEPH I. PEYToN.

purpose hereinbe-

